Part One

Each year, approximately 300,000 Americans over 64 break their hips -- three-quarters of them women. They are two to five times more likely to die within a year than seniors without a break. And with aging baby boomers, the number of fractures could double by 2040.(By Alice Dembner )

Alone in her daughter's home for the first time since she broke her hip five weeks earlier, Angeline Scardino swept up a pill she had dropped, trying to keep it from her dachshund Symantha.(Globe Staff / Bill Greene)

Part Three

From her customary seat at the kitchen table, Angeline Scardino gazed out the window on a gorgeous October afternoon. She was home alone for the first time since she broke her hip two months earlier.(By Alice Dembner)